“Jump! Cut! Bang!”

Do you remember the first time you heard Mahler’s music?

Tilson Thomas: I remember very clearly the moment when Mahler’s music reached out and grabbed me; I was 13 years old. I was waiting at the house of my parents’ friends for some reason or another; they were very busy people and they said, “Would you like to listen to some music? For example, do you know Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde?” – which of course I didn’t.

And they said, “Why don’t you listen to the last movement – it’s about 20 minutes long and your parents should be here by then.” And they put on this section, and really I divide my life between before I heard that recording – which was Ferrier and Walter – and after I heard it. The music made a stunning impression on me.

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Find the full interview in Gustav Mahler: The Conductors’ Interviews
Edited by Wolfgang Schaufler
ISBN: 978-3-7024-7162-0
ISMN: 979-0-008-08493-5
Order number: UE26311 (German Edition: UE26310)